Chapter 18
Claudius the Crimson Dragon roared while swaying his body, but his dragon aura was still incapable of stunning the rangers and druids. No matter how quick his growth was, Claudius was still a young dragon. Moreover, Crimson Dragons whelps and toddlers were under the jurisdiction of the step-mother of the Dragon G.o.d. Out of the Five Coloured Evil Dragons and Metallic Dragons, Crimson Dragons were the only ones which could not use magic as whelps and toddlers. Their only weapons were their sharp claws and fire.
With his exceptional ability, the dual swordsman leaped all over the place, attempting to create wounds on the Crimson Dragons" body while dodging its clumsy attacks. Claudius was still restricted by the magical vines; hence his attacks were rather slow and could be easily avoided. The five-man squad, however, did make a fatal mistake, which was underestimating his scales. Unless the half-elf strike with all his power at an opening, it was hardly possible for him to penetrate the scales.
Claudius" high const.i.tution helped out quite a bit, as his wounds were closing up at a considerate rate. Even if the swordsman did manage to stab through his scales and create a big wound, it would stop bleeding and gradually recover after a short while. If that was all the half-elf had, he would not be able to take down Claudius despite his high level of 14. However, it was not a duel between the two from the start. The spearman has finally joined the fray.
The spearman ranger was apparently one of those people who emphasized on strength, unlike the swordsman who focused on agility. The spear was probably enhanced by magic as well, as it was clad in a magical glow. The length of the spear was also suitable for dealing heavy damage towards a dragon. Claudius did not want to get hit by that weapon at all, but that was not for him to decide. The druid, now morphed into a bear, had also joined the 2 melee fighters. The bear ran on all fours, and its speed was even higher than the spearman. The high level druid did not morph into a cute cub, but a gigantic bear which was similar to Claudius in size. Its claws were not inferior to the Crimson Dragon"s as well. The archer continued the barrage of arrows, and the b.a.s.t.a.r.d had decent accuracy. The high level archer had all kind of buffs such as increased accuracy and firing rate. Due to Claudius" tough scales and the high price of magically enhanced arrows, Claudius had yet to become a hedgehog. Yet if things went on like this, it would only be a matter of time before his eyes would get hit. It would all be over then, as he could only await death in darkness after losing his sight.
The magical vines casted by the other druid were extremely irritating as well. Furthermore, the druid continued casting magic which extended the spell, making it last much longer. As things stood, it was extremely probable that Claudius would be killed.
"These G.o.dd.a.m.n monkeys! Stop moving dammit, I can"t even bite them!" Claudius screamed as he sent out a deafening roar.
Due to his movement, the spear which would have originally punctured his chest now jabbed his thigh. The magic weapon tore through his scales, dealing significant damage to Claudius. His centre of gravity was affected after having his thigh damaged, and he could only barely support his weight. The morphed druid"s attacks were also unbearable. Its claws could only leave tiny scratches on Claudius, but the heavy paw also acted like a blunt weapon. The shockwaves from the attacks entered his body, fracturing a few ribs. The dual swordsman took the opportunity and stabbed at the scratches, dealing extra damage to the cornered Crimson Dragon.
Legends say that this was how the ultimate ability that shocked the entire Toril, Floren and multiverse; the ultimate ability which affected the whole Crystal Realm created by the Mages of the Seash.o.r.e, came into being. The ultimate ability known as "Claudius took a deep breath, and&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;" appeared for the first time ever on the Floren continent. As he roared loudly, Claudius took in a huge, deep breath, compressing the air with his strong muscles. Ignoring the incoming attacks, Claudius continued to compress the air inside his body, and it felt like an eternity as he took a lot of damage from the five-man squad.
The Crimson Dragon"s wings were tattered, most likely torn apart by the vines and the morphed druid"s attacks. On its body, wounds could be seen everywhere and the dragon was about to drop down onto the ground as its leg was punctured. The squad believed that once it fell, everything would be over. Yet at this very moment, Claudius opened his large mouth.
Intense flames sprayed out of his mouth frenziedly, and the flames gradually changed from red to white in colour. Claudius did not spew fire in a specific direction, but instead sprayed a full 360 by twisting his neck. As he was covered in flammable dragon blood, Claudius" body ignited as well, covering him in white flames. The young dragon had quite the range, with his breath reaching up to 40 metres long. Claudius changed the breath of flames into a fan shape instead of a stream of fire, grilling the surroundings. With Claudius as the centre, everything within the 40-metre radius was incinerated, creating a 5000-square-meter large scorched h.e.l.l.
In the distant future, the ability known as "Claudius took a deep breath, and&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;" was a skill which had multiple variations but created the same results for the enemies. Utter annihilation and nothing else. As the first to use such ability, Claudius of course wrecked all his enemies with the attack. If not, he would not have been alive and the ultimate ability would not be pa.s.sed down the generations. With extreme temperatures even higher than the flames of an adult Crimson Dragon, the attack which had no blind spots instantly destroyed the druid which turned into a bear and the melee-oriented rangers. The flames were not only enhanced by magic; the flammable fluid stored in Claudius" weird organ also played a major role. As the fluid came into contact with air, it spontaneously combusted and created a high temperature, which further increased the power of the attack. Even a dragon of the Five Coloured Evil Dragons would be in a dire situation when attacked with such a breath. Crimson Dragons were not included though as they were immune to fire.
Having Fire Immunity was essential for dragon slaying, more so for a Crimson Dragon. It was necessary for their equipment to have such magic, but these second-rate magic items did not stand a chance against 4000 degree Celsius. The flames were so strong that all the oxygen within the 5000-square-meter area was used up for combustion. The first to get killed was the morphed druid. Although the fur had fire immunity properties, the scorched h.e.l.l was simply too large for the druid to escape in time. Inhaling the flammable fluid into his lungs, the druid was burnt from the insides. The blood of Claudius further strengthened the h.e.l.l of flames, rendering the druid"s fire immunity powerless. The huge brown bear became a pillar of flames not long after, with bluish white flames spraying out from his orifices (including his b.u.t.t), grilling the unlucky b.a.s.t.a.r.d inside out.
The half-elf was more fortunate at the beginning, as he was on Claudius" neck during the breath attack. The blind spot soon disappeared, as Claudius" body was soon clad in flames. The Fire Immunity enchantment soon lost its effect, and the swordsman could only stand in awe as he became a burning candle.
If high level mages had been present, they would probably have escaped safely. Most mages would keep a few spells on standby mode, setting them auto-cast when they were about to get hit by fatal enemy attacks. Even less complex spells like short range teleportation would be sufficient for them to escape from the scorching region. The wide range breath attack outlasted the Fire Immunity enchantments the squad had, not to mention that the enchantments were useless in the first place. Claudius was still spewing flames, vitrifying the ground.
The spearman ranger also met his demise, and the magical vines were long gone. The archer and druid who casted the vines were out of range of the breath attack, thus they were more or less unharmed. As they moved cautiously, the Crimson Dragon suddenly made an unexpected move. After stretching its body, the Crimson Dragon who could have easily finished them off ran away&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;